corruption and radical politics of their home countries.
Kudos to Roger Hedgecock for alerting us via the weekly newspaper, Human Events.
I say clearly, the key issue in this typical U.S. dilemma is assimilation. Ideally, illegals should be sent back to where they came from, and those immigrants who come here legally must understand that English is our only dominant language. They must learn English, function in English, vote in English. No more catering to their native language needs, and voting ballots should only be in English.
And, those in charge of our federal government must close our borders or be impeached.
For KSCO, this is Kay Zwerling.
Part Two: United States of America
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(February 29, 2004) Well isn’t there always something to fill us with angst? This time, it’s the gays confronting the traditionalists, and the issue is becoming more hairy, and the gays are behaving like anarchists. With the help of certain lawbreaking mayors and judges, and other jurisdictions who are getting into the act, many gays are celebrating their so-called marriages. Almost everyone agrees that same-sex partners will and should have same legal rights as a married couple, that is, a man and a woman. Now gays, unhappy with the wording “legal partnerships”, want their union to be called a “marriage”. Since forever, marriage has been between a man and a woman, and nothing more. When children come into a marriage, they have one mother and one father, and in no way ever can two fathers or two mothers be a marriage. So it looks like there is a stalemate.
There is, however, a reasonable solution. Remember Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”, when Romeo said “What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”? To satisfy everyone, unions between gays could be called a garriage, with a “g”. That would sound the closest to the word marriage without trivializing the institution of marriage. Just change one letter, an “m” to a “g”, and if gays say the word fast enough, it sounds like marriage – even though it is not. Gays could get garried, hopefully have stable garriages, and celebrate long and happy years of gatrimony together. Isn’t that a really good King Solomon-type solution?
As a pedestrian observer of the human condition, and of the attitudes of society toward the two most widely used recreational substances, alcohol and marijuana, otherwise known as pot, one wonders why alcohol is universally accepted, condoned, and promoted, while marijuana is maligned and, in some places, forbidden. The U.S. Government has declared pot to be illegal, so many caught with it are fined, stigmatized, languish in prison, and are otherwise made miserable. There is documented medical proof that pot can relieve the pain of terminally ill patients and afford their last days a measure of mellow peace. Despite this positive use of the substance, the federal government continues to declare it illegal, even though some states do allow its use for medical purposes. Alcohol, on the other hand, gets a free ride, despite the fact that its legal use has caused, and continues to cause enormous human misery with the breakup of families, neglect of children, loss of jobs, accidents and killings by drunken drivers, and the overall drain on society. One could argue that while both substances are considered bad, alcohol causes more grief in the world than pot does.
During a trip to Jamaica many years ago, our tour guide pointed out the abundant marijuana bushes growing wild alongside the roads, and he attributed the longevity and good health of most Jamaicans to their daily drinking of a tea made from the marijuana leaves. So one could wonder… if alcohol, with nothing good to justify its use, is federally legal, shouldn’t pot, with some significant proven good, likewise be legal? Or, put another way, if pot is illegal, surely shouldn’t alcohol also be illegal? Hmmmmm.
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(February 20, 2003) Political correctness emerged in the late 1960s as the brainchild of the academic left, born of emotion. That is to say, feelings – not facts, not reality. It was decided by the left that to be politically correct, one must no longer use the word “handicapped”. Instead, that word was replaced by the words “physically challenged”. Nothing really changed. The handicapped person was still handicapped, and probably came to terms with that situation a long time ago.
Anyhow, the word “challenged” came into vogue, and any condition remotely negative or sad became hyphenated followed by the world “challenged”.
KSCO’s Russian talk host perpetuates this charade, no doubt jokingly, by explaining his lack of proficiency in English by starting each program saying that he is linguistically-challenged, another manifestation of political correctness bordering on the absurd.
About five years ago, a local high school accustomed to honoring the student graduating with the highest grades by naming them the valedictorian, had to withdraw that traditional singular honor because eleven students had the same grade average. Had the administrators factored in other individual accomplishments, one student would have stood out front, but rather than hurt anyone’s feelings, that year there were eleven valedictorians. So much for the joy of achievement.
Likewise, in the 1960s, UCSC initiated a pass/fail grading system to replace letter grades, primarily because it was more compassionate for students who were unable to attain As and Bs. The pursuit of excellence was no longer rewarded – in fact, it was disdained. In the name of feelings, there came a settling for mediocrity.
Political correctness heralded the dumbing down of our educational system. Competing has become politically incorrect. Students are no longer expected to be high achievers. Everybody’s comfort level must be equal. Nobody must have hurt feelings —nobody except maybe the innocent victims of Affirmative Action. The best and the brightest have to defer to the less able. Many brilliant students have been locked out of medical schools, law schools, dental schools, etc.
There must be a way to implement Affirmative Action without punishing those with the most potential. The feelings of everyone affected should be considered.
Because of political correctness, children are not being properly disciplined, not at home and not at school, because that might stifle creativity. Parents were admonished to avoid saying “No” or “Do not” to their kid for fear that those restrictions might damage Junior’s psyche. Feelings have replaced discipline and common sense. Children are being cheated out of having parameters. As a result, respect for parents and teachers has eroded. In some schools, teachers are being cursed, assaulted, and in extreme cases, some have even been raped by students. Because of political correctness, many parents have abdicated their roles as guiding influences. And instead, have opted to be their kid’s buddies – not all parents, only those who have allowed themselves to be seduced by the misguided notion of political correctness. So, if the shoe fits, wear it.
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Moving along – political correctness has fostered a nation of wimps and victims. People do not take responsibility for their behavior. It is much easier to let someone else or the government bail them out. How about the elderly woman who held her cup of hot coffee between her thighs while driving, scalded her legs, then took McDonald’s to court, sued for damages, and won? Also, the lifetime smoker who developed lung cancer, blamed, and then sued the tobacco company and was awarded millions? Victimhood has become a lucrative art. Now greedy, unethical lawyers are initiating frivolous lawsuits, all with the help of politically correct juries and especially condoned by politically correct judges who lack the backbone to rule rationally. Liberal and extreme judges must take responsibility for enabling our judicial system to become political and grossly unfair. These extreme judges and lawyers are surely in the minority, but it only takes a few rotten apples to ruin the entire barrel.
One could go on and on about the abuses and havoc generated by political correctness. It is really tiresome how these p.c. lefties are always offended. Now the word “Christmas” can no longer be mentioned in the public school system. Can’t say “God” either. And the Ten Commandments are banned from all schools and all public buildings. Our national moral fiber is wearing very thin.
In a subsequent commentary, we will discuss more about the excesses perpetrated by political correctness and finish with the full text of